Backbone of the Nation

Robert Gildea will explore the Miners’ Strike as the last great industrial battle of the twentieth century, which mobilised 170,000 miners, their families and communities in defence of their pits and way of life.

The defeat of the strike led to pit closures and the devastation of former mining communities, but also to collective efforts to save those communities and cultivate the heritage of the mining industry.

There will be a particular focus on the experience of the strike and it’s aftermath in County Durham.